One good thing from the meeting is that although no vote was taken, it is clear that the IRTs will not be cut this year.

Another ting that came out of the meeting was a next step for the Budget process. By Friday of this week, Board members will be submitting lists of the remaining Budget Options marked, yes, no and maybe. I assume that the unanimous “nos” will be removed from consideration at the April 12 meeting and hope that those with a strong majority will be too. If you want to weigh in before the lists are finalized, write the Board at board@madison.k12.wi.us.

I hope these are posted for public perusal in a timely manner (so that the public can contact the Board prior to any decisions).

It was also Johnny Winston Jr,’s last real meeting. Thanks for the service Johnny.

The Budget Book has been posted, but from the discussion Monday and my own quick skims, there are some problems. The biggest, but not only problem is that it doesn’t reflect significant changes that have already been decided, the Reorganization (PART 1, PART 2, PART 3)
being the most significant. I’ve been told that some sort of fix to this and other issues is in the works.

On Monday, there were references to pending Questions and Answers on the budget, but the Q&A page was last updated on March 28.

In other news, Jame Howard was victorious and will be joining the Board. Congratulations and best of luck James (too late to turn back now). I also want to thank Tom Farley for running and his desire to make a contribution to the community.

On Tuesday there were 48 school referenda on the ballot in Wisconsin, 24 passed. All 6 recurring operational measures failed; non-recurring operational votes split 10 to 10, and 14 of 22 debt measures passed. This is no way to fund educational investments. For the full results, see here.